FAA Rejects Plans For Tall Miami Towers

Florida real estate titans Related Group and Florida East Coast Realty have received dreaded letters of rejection from the Federal Aviation Administration for Miami building plans that failed to meet air traffic safety standards.

Two Related projects in the early planning stages—Auberge Residences and Spa at 1400 Biscayne Blvd. and One Brickell at 444 Brickell Ave.—received letters in August from the FAA telling condo division president Carlos Rosso that both projects were “presumed to be a hazard to air navigation.”
Getting a similar letter was Florida East Coast Realty LLC, which saw the FAA pushing back against its proposed tower at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive.
That FAA also shot down initial plans for towers on the Miami Dade College campus near 400 Biscayne Blvd. and the ultraluxury residential Elysee at 700 NE 23rd St.
The agency didn’t support anything above 500 feet.
In the case of Auberge, Related offered plans for towers as tall as 877 feet. The FAA suggested a maximum of 465 feet.
One Brickell was proposed with towers as tall as 646 feet, but came with an FAA suggestion of 449 feet.
FECR’s 995-foot project at 1201 Brickell Bay Drive was more than double the FAA suggestion of 484 feet.
The 969-foot MDC tower vastly exceeds the FAA’s recommendation of 457 feet.
So does Elysee’s proposed 644 feet; the FAA is suggesting 465 feet instead.
The FAA is responsible for assessing the height of all large structures near U.S. airports with aviation safety in mind.
Its feedback won’t kill the development plans: Builders have the option of sitting down with federal bureaucrats to modify their plans and work out compromises. After a similar string of letters to developers in December, FECR, Swire Properties, Melo Group and MDM Development negotiated to secure FAA approval.
Developers also can engage in a technical process called “public circularization” to challenge the FAA’s judgment. Agency records show Related, FECR and Elysee developer Two Roads Development LLC have already started that process for its proposed towers. But that can slow development timelines: a nightmare for builders near the peak of a hot market.
Not all FAA responses are negative. The agency approved seven towers of 450 feet or more for future development in Miami’s urban core.
They are:

Liquid Lofts, an 866-foot-tall rental development at 35 SW First St. that’s proposed as the tallest residential tower in the city,

• An 831-foot-tall tower at 130 SE First St.,

Brickell Flatiron, a 700-foot luxury condo marketed by developer CMC Group at 1001 S. Miami Ave.,

• A 699-foot tower proposed by developer Marc Roberts at 60 NE 11th St. in Miami’s 24-hour entertainment district next to Club Space,

• A 643-foot residential tower proposed by Verzasca Group at about 2030 Biscayne Blvd.,

One Paraiso, a 621-foot condo tower being developed by Related as part of a waterfront residential complex at 3131 NE Seventh Ave. and

• A 494-foot apartment building planned by ZOM Development in the Miami Worldcenter mixed-use project.

 
Source:  DBR
 

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